Alternate Schedule FAQ

1 week behind - 2 weeks - 3 weeks - 4 weeks -   5 weeks

I hope these will answer any questions you have about being on the alternate Storybook schedule; if not, just let me know!

How do I know what schedule I am on?

Look for the "Storybook Progress" item in the Gradebook. If you see one asterisk there, you are one week behind the standard schedule; if you see two asterisks, that means you are two weeks behind; if you see three asterisks, you are three weeks behind the regular schedule; four asterisks means you are four weeks behind and five asterisks means you are  five weeks behind the regular schedule.

Why am I on the alternate schedule?

There are two ways people end up on an alternate schedule:

1) If you miss an assignment (i.e. do not turn it in before the absolute late deadline of Thursday noon), you will be on an alternate schedule.

2) If a revision assignment needs an additional round of revision, you will be on an alternate schedule. The normal schedule is write-revise / write-revise, etc., but a round of write-revise-revise requires an alternate schedule.

Is there a penalty for being on the alternate schedule?

No, there is no penalty. If you are on the alternate schedule because you missed an assignment, you will have a zero for the assignment you missed. If you are on the alternate schedule because of an assignment requiring additional revisions, you may or may not have missed some points. In any case, you can make up those missing points with extra credit; that is what the extra credit options are for.

How many stories will my Storybook contain?

• If you are on the regular schedule or one-week-off, your Storybook will have four stories total.
• If you are on the two-weeks-off or three-weeks-off schedule, your Storybook will have three stories total.
• If you are on the four-weeks-off or five-weeks-off schedule, your Storybook will have only two stories total.

Can I get back on the regular schedule?

You cannot get back on the regular schedule, but you can certainly work ahead! So, even if the alternate schedule might tell you that your first story is due in Week 7 or Week 8, that does not mean you cannot work ahead: you can write and publish your first story any time. Just like with other assignments in this class you can work ahead - in fact, I highly recommend that you do so!

How can I get comments from other students if I am not on the regular schedule?

If you want to get comments back from the other students, you need to have your work published online for them to read. So, go ahead and write and publish your Introduction and your stories according to the regular schedule. You may not be turning them in to me on that schedule, but you can certainly complete your work according to that schedule. If the other students can find the new stories to read at your Storybook, they will be able to leave comments for you, just like for any other Storybook on the regular schedule.

How far behind can I get?

The most weeks you can be off schedule is FIVE. If you fall more than five weeks behind, you will receive a zero for all the remaining Storybook assignments in the semester. So, if you are four or five weeks behind, you must be very careful - you do not have much wiggle room at that point.